Army Life
by Almighty Short One VIP
Summary: Re-written to fit in with You Inspire Me and Battlefield of Love. Might want to read those two first.


I re-wrote this story so it would fit in with **You Inspire Me** and **Battlefield of Love**. Mostly still the same except the flashback. I hope you still live it!

DO NOT OWN LWD.

* * *

She stood by his bed in the hospital, waiting for him to wake up. He looked broken, and he was supposed to be the tough guy, the one to never let you down, and the protector. How could this have happened?

A sergeant of some sort walked in and told the family what honorable thing he had done, but she didn't care. She didn't care he'd risked his life to save his unit from an I.E.D. She didn't care that everyone was safe. All she cared about was the broken Derek lying in the bed. He left for Afghanistan in once piece, happy and smiling and very proud to be serving his country. He came back severely injured, but still proud he did his job. She was proud of him for saving his unit, but also thought him stupid for playing the hero. But that was Derek, always doing the right thing, not always in the best way, but the right thing nonetheless.

_**Flashback!**_

_While Derek was away at basic training, Casey planned everything out for when he came back. It was only three months, she could handle it. At least that's what she told herself. Every day was hell for her. She couldn't talk to her family because she was sure they'd think her way crazy and obsessed. While he was gone, she wrote poetry and danced like crazy. She needed an outlet for her anxiety._

_Finally, the day Derek came back, the day her torture was ended. She was the first one out of the house and into his arms. She hugged him and cried so happily. No one really noticed or cared because he was home safe._

_Later that night, after Derek told all of his stories to Marti and everyone else, Casey snuck down the hallway to Derek's room. Being the soldier that he was, he woke easily at the sound of her footsteps before she even got in the room._

"_Hey Case. Didn't think you, of all people, would break the rules just to come snuggle her boyfriend." Derek chuckled quietly._

"_Der-EK! Shut up or Mom and George will hear us!" She slapped his arm lightly and shoved him over in bed._

"_Oh yeah? How will they hear us? They sleep all the way IN THE BASEMENT." He poked her face with each word to accentuate his point._

"_You suck Der. Scoot over will you? I might be tiny, but not that tiny!" She kept shoving him further over in bed._

"_If you take any more space there will be none left!" He glared at her through the dark._

"_Well if you'd RATHER, I can take my body and leave." She huffed at him moving to crawl out of bed._

"_No! No! Stay here, please?" He gave a puppy face as he slipped an arm around her waist pulling her back into the bed._

_The week Derek had before he deployed was the shortest and longest week of Casey and Derek"s life. They spent every moment in the day with their family and every night they slept together. If Nora and George knew, they didn't say anything about it._

_Finally they day came to see Derek off at the airport. It was strange, seeing a US military uniform in a Canadian airport. A lot of people stared at the family, either because they were all crying hysterically or because there was an American soldier in their country._

_Casey stood in line with him waiting to get to the security check point. Derek took her hand and suddenly her family was around them. She looked to Derek only to see him kneeling on the ground._

"_Oh. My. God. No effing way!" She breathed out._

"_First, I'm NOT proposing," he started._

"_Then WHAT, pray-tell, ARE you doing? You can't just kneel like that and-" Casey was cut off by Nora's hand over her mouth._

"_Please dear, let Derek finish." She gave Casey a pointed look and gestured for Derek to continue._

"_I'm NOT proposing. But I AM proposing to propose in the future. Casey I love you, so much. I can't even think of a life without you. I can't breathe when I think of that. And I know I'm deploying today. But I want to give you a promise ring. I want to promise that when I come home from this, we will start our life together. We will get married and have a family. I promise, with this ring, to come home to you, and to our family. Will you agree to marry me some day?" His deep brown eyes met her crystal blue ones._

"_Yes! Yes of course!" He slid the ring on her finger and, to the applause of everyone who had witnessed the proposal, dipped her and kissed her deeply._

_**End Flashback!**_

After everyone had left, Casey sat there still, looking at her poor soldier. His face was cut and he had many broken bones. He was alive and that was all the mattered to anyone. A tear slid down her face and landed with a small splash on the claddagh ring that rested on her left ring finger. It was just a promise ring, one filled with promises to come home, promises of love forever and that they would always be together.

"Hey spacey, why are you crying?" croaked Derek's voice.

Wiping the tears away, she looked at him. "You're awake! Oh, but you shouldn't talk, the doctor said so. You're really hurt and you need your rest, which I'm sure you know but I'm telling you anyway."

"You're rambling dear." He observed, but he smiled up at her anyway. He was glad to see her and hear her voice. His unit may have had women, but none of them were his Casey, his Spacey.

"I know. I'm just so glad you're alive and that you're home, for however long that is." She hugged him lightly, wishing she could hold on tighter and never let go.

"I got an honorable discharge. So my service is done unless I re-enlist." He ran his fingers through her hair.

There were a few minutes of awkward silence in which Casey sat on the bed looking at Derek, knowing, accepting but afraid of what he was going to say next.

Derek inhaled and told her, "I want to re-enlist, Case. I feel so proud serving my country and protecting the place where you, we, live. Can you understand that?" His fingers went to cup her face.

"I understand. And I am proud of what you're doing." She took his hand and kissed it. "I will always be by your side."


End file.
